The Family Of The Moon
by inuyashagirl22
Summary: A collection of one-shots focusing on the relationships of RLNT as well as their family life. Most stories are AU but will generally follow the plotline... somewhat.
1. Surprise!

A/N: HEELLLOOOOO~~ miss mee? –dodges thrown objects- clearly not haha! I'm so terribly sorry for starting another fic, but it's all good because this will be a collection of one-shots! I'm only writing this to get me out of my horrible writer's block in hopes that I can actually get my lazy butt moving and finish all those unfinished fanfics I have. Anyways, this should be new because I'm actually doing a collection of RLNT one-shots! Oh yes I absolutely ADORE this couple. Not to mention I'm really angry that they had to die at the end of Deathly Hallows. RAWR! Anyways, moving on.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter… it belongs to JKR.

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Teddy Remus Lupin walked towards the great hall at a brisk pace in hopes of nabbing himself one of the fluffier butter rolls (not the ones which had been squished through the nabbing and pickiness of the other Gryffindor students) before heading off to his favourite class – Defence Against the Dark Arts. Arriving at the large oaken doors, Teddy made his way through the throng of students and plopped down in an empty seat along the table of his house.

"Hey Teddy! Ready for another defence lesson?" Oliver grinned as he shuffled into the seat next to his best friend.

Teddy merely grinned back with a mouthful of cereal. Finally swallowing, the metamorphagus took a swig of his goblet of pumpkin juice before answering happily, "I was _born_ ready Oliver! Defence against the dark arts is my best subject after all."

Oliver huffed good naturally and replied, "well that's only because your mum is an Auror and your dad is the one _teaching_ us!"

"You're just jealous that I get higher marks than you. Not to mention you know that dad doesn't treat me special in anyway. He did give me three detentions already this year. Two of which I do believe is your fault," the turquoise haired boy narrowed his eyes at the sheepish looking boy to his right before taking a bite of a flaky butter roll that he had put aside to eat last.

"Well maybe if Barry would stop being such a git I wouldn't have had to hex him…" Oliver muttered and moodily stabbed at his hotcake.

Teddy smiled. It was nice to have a best friend such as Oliver, even though he was hot headed at times. Teddy was no fool, he knew that many of the students (more specifically those belonging to the Slytherin house) detested him. Firstly because he currently held the top mark in Lupin's class, which lead to the assumption that their professor favoured his son, and secondly because of his rare morphing abilities. Teddy's acquired ability- from which he had gotten from his mother- had put Teddy in quite the spotlight at school. Many of the students had thought it was 'bloody wicked!' that he could change his appearance at will, however many of the pure blooded Slytherins called him a 'dark creature' like his father.

"It's okay Oliver, I'm used to it, and besides, it's not like it's anything ne-" Teddy was cut off mid sentence as an owl dropped a well aimed letter that would've stuck the bright haired boy had he not caught it in time.

"Letter eh? That's unusual, doesn't your dad usually pass on messages from your mum?"

Teddy frowned, "yeah he does, I hope nothing's wrong though" he said as he flipped over the letter to reveal bubbly handwriting that clearly indicated that it was from his mother.

Tearing into the paper impatiently, Teddy pulled out a piece of pink parchment. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes at this, Teddy scanned the page. Much to his confusion, the letter only contained a single line:

_I hope you like surprises Teddy! Sometimes things aren't always as they seem, looking past the surface can be the trick to revealing a well concealed surprise. Love you, Mum._

"Surprise? What the hell is she talking about?" Oliver furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced over Teddy's shoulders.

"No bloody idea… I really wish Mum didn't talk in riddles sometimes," Teddy frowned and pocketed the piece of parchment, "No time to think about it anyways, we've got to get moving otherwise we'll be late for class. I don't know about you but I certainly don't fancy serving another detention potting mandrakes."

Collecting their books, the two third years made their way out of the great hall and up several flights of stairs. Somehow despite the amount of student traffic jams there appeared to be that morning, Teddy and Oliver still managed to arrive in class on time. What shocked them however, was the fact that there seemed to be a 2 year old toddler with curly blonde ringlets sitting on their professor's desk looking around curiously at the different papers stacked neatly in the corner.

"All right ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. Class has begun," Remus clapped his hands loudly and strode in behind Teddy and Oliver.

The young metamorphagus however could not bring himself to stop gaping at the adorable baby girl sitting on the desk. What on earth was a toddler doing in their Defence against the Dark Arts classroom? Surely no one was that lacking in the mind that they would simply leave a baby sitting around in a random classroom in Hogwarts.

"I do suggest you take your seat Mr. Lupin, unless of course you find standing for 80 minutes much more comfortable than sitting? Not that I mind actually, for I do recall from my days as a student that the chairs were certainly lacking in comfort," Remus grinned wryly at his son who seemed to still be gaping like a fish out of water.

Flushing a bright scarlet, Teddy quickly made his way to his seat and sunk down as low as he could, with the hopes that he could vanish and avoid all the stares boring into him at the moment. His hair however, which had turned a bright fiery red in his embarrassment, didn't help him either.

Remus suppressed a chuckle at the slowly changing color of his son's hair and spared Teddy a quick glance before addressing the class once more.

"Today we will be learning about how to recognize someone under a disillusion spell or any spell they might have used to alter their appearance…" Remus said in a loud and clear voice before walking over to his desk.

"Now, on a side note, I'm sure you have all noticed this toddler," with one quick scoop Remus lifted the baby girl in his arms and received a delighted squeal of laughter, "and are probably wondering why is she here."

He paused and surveyed the room before continuing, "your assignment today will be to tell me whether or not this is simply a normal infant girl or whether it is someone or something else in disguise. Furthermore, if you do seem to think that there is indeed a disguising charm, then you must state what spell it is and why you think so. However if no one can supply me with an answer by the end of class then I will assign you all an essay on the topic of concealment spells," Remus ignored the groans from the students, "But, if you do happen to supply me with a correct answer, I will award that student's house 5 points for every fact he or she can give me. Any information, and I repeat, _any_ information will be awarded points."

"So does that mean if we give you a random name that happens to be correct you will give us 5 points?" a shaggy, blonde haired boy raised his hand in the back row.

"Yes Gordon, I will stand by my word and award you the points, however how you will manage to guess that is beyond my comprehension," Remus smiled as the room burst into laughter.

"Now, continuing on… A disillusion spell can be easily identified if you look for the correct signs, for example usually after a brief period of time, there will be a shimmering effect where for a moment the spell will ripple and distort the image…"

As Remus continued walking around the room giving his lecture, Teddy found himself staring at the little girl again. By this time, his father had conjured up some small wooden blocks with letters on them for the toddler to play with. He watched in amusement as she picked up block by block looking at the different letters and nearly laughed at the delighted expression that appeared on her face as she picked up a neon pink letter block.

The bright color of the block suddenly reminded him of his hair and Teddy quickly decided that he had better change his hair back lest other people outside the classroom figure out he had been embarrassed. Scrunching up his face in a look of concentration, Teddy felt his scalp tingle and knew that his hair was slowly turning back to the bright aqua color that he seemed to adapt on a regular basis. What Teddy couldn't help noticing however was that as soon as his hair started to change color, the little girl had immediately fixed her eyes on him and watched him with curious eyes. When he was done his transformation, he was surprised at the huge grin he got from the toddler. Not that it wasn't weird that she grinned at him while he was morphing – many children absolutely adored his abilities – but there was something about that grin that was so _familiar_.

"… In contrast to using concealing and transfiguration spells to alter one's appearance, there is also a special ability that few people possess that allows them to change their appearance _without_ the use of magic. These people are called metamorphagi," Remus' pleasant smile that he usually adorned during his lectures grew a tab bit larger and Teddy knew that he was thinking of his mother. Nymphadora Tonks had the uncanny ability to enter the intellectual professor's mind anytime and anywhere, or when anything reminded the werewolf of his wife.

"Metamorphagi can change their appearance on will. They are able to alter their height, looks and physical structure to anything they wish, although only when the ability is mastered can they hold their morphs for long periods of time. Eventually as the child gets older, their morphing abilities become less and less effortless and eventually, by the adult stage, one can hold a morph without even thinking about it consciously. However morphing does sometimes appear to have a mind of its own as it will occasionally change along with the person's emotions…"

Teddy could swear that every head in the room suddenly turned to look at him. Pretending not to notice, Teddy focused on making sure his hair did NOT change colors again and continued to stare forwards, appearing to be listening intently to the lecture which was still going on.

Soon, Teddy once again found himself watching the little girl who was now stacking the blocks one atop another. A brief rupture of laughter erupted in the class and Teddy knew that Lupin was actually teaching his lesson in a way that entertained the students instead of boring them to death.

The toddler was now stacking the eighth block and when she placed it at the top of her tower, she made a gleeful sound which sounded – at least in Teddy's mind – like the infant version of what would've been a very unabashed laughter of an adult. Her outburst had garnered her the attention of everyone in the room, including the professor who raised a curious eyebrow in her direction. The blocks were stacked in such a way that the backside – which was facing the toddler- was obscured from view of the students yet tilted enough that Remus was able to see it. After a brief moment, a rather secretive and amused smile made it's way onto Remus' face and instantly he looked ages younger, a feat that only Nymphadora Tonks had been able to accomplish.

Absently, somewhere in the back of his mind Teddy began to worry, she wasn't his long lost sister or something was she? The mere thought of it sent Teddy's head spinning. No, that was impossible, because his parents had been so absorbed with raising him that they simply had not thought of having a second child yet.

Despite the distraction, Remus continued his lecture while walking over to ruffle the girl's hair affectionately. By now, it had been 50 minutes into the class and still no one had volunteered an answer to the question presented to them at the beginning of class. Teddy however, was proven wrong when a Ravenclaw sitting at the front of the room raised her hand.

"Yes Matilda?" Lupin's amber eyes darted towards the black haired student.

"I would like to answer your question about the toddler," her quiet voice said uncertainly.

"Oh, certainly!" Remus leaned back casually against his desk and patiently waited for the student to continue.

"…is she under an ageing spell?" she voiced timidly.

Remus' eyes lit up and he smiled warmly at his student, "unfortunately no, there is not ageing spell placed on her. However it is a very reasonable guess, for the ageing charm usually does not falter in appearance at all and can be very reliable in fooling other people. The only downside is that the spell usually only lasts for about 40 minutes before you have to renew it again and seeing as we're at the 60 minute mark, we have to rule that out."

Mutters rose about the students and people began exchanging guesses with their neighbours now that one possible spell had been ruled out.

"Continuing on…" Lupin stood up and resumed his pacing around the classroom, launching into a detailed explanation of how other spells such as _**Specialis Revelio **_could be used to identify any enchantments or spells on a targeted subject or object. But added quickly that the students were not allowed to use that spell to figure out the answer to the question posed at the beginning of class.

Teddy's eyes once again found themselves glued onto the little girl playing on the desk. He watched her silently pondering on the answer when suddenly she knocked over the blocks. Her tower toppled over and Teddy found himself recognizing the blocks placed in the middle of the tower. The sideways 'V' fell next to a bright pink 'O' and opposite of those two blocks were the letters 'E' and 'L'.

'Voel'? Teddy thought, what the heck was voel? That wasn't even an actual word! Besides, it shouldn't have roused that amused grin of Remus' that only his mum could get when she was being all _lovey-dovey_. Or what Teddy liked to call 'gaggingly-disgusting'.

_Wait_. Teddy paused. _Lovey-dovey? _L-O-V-E? what on earth was a 2 year old girl spelling the word 'love' out to his dad for? Surely Remus' marauder charms didn't work on little girls as well did it? God knew that it certainly caused more than a few girls in Teddy's last class to swoon over his father.

Thinking hard, Teddy tried to recall the number of blocks that were stacked. It was eight was it not? If 'love' used up 4 blocks, the left 4 more blocks to spell out some other words. Soon everything began clicking into place and Teddy wrinkled his nose at the realization.

The little girl had spelled out 'I love you' in block letters.

Surely she was not what she appeared to be, because no 2 year old knew how to spell that and clearly she could not talk yet much less know what 'I love you' meant.

Thinking a bit more, Teddy's face slowly changed from thinking, to confusion, to realization and finally to exasperation. How could he have been so stupid? Unconsciously, Teddy let out a groan as he rubbed his forehead with his hands. Really now, bringing her into the classroom? And in _that_ form?

"Is there something you find particularly exasperating about the historical use of the ageing charm Mr. Lupin?" Remus cocked his slightly to the side and stared at his only son who seemed to want to shrink into his chair.

Taking a deep breath and reminding himself that by doing this he would earn himself a bucket load of points, Teddy said in a quiet voice, "I would like to volunteer an answer for the identity of the little girl."

A knowing smile slowly spread across Remus' face, "Go on then Mr Lupin, the floor is yours."

Sparing one last glance at his father's grinning face, Teddy Lupin started, "She is a metamorphagus. She is under no enchantments or spells, rather, she has used her abilities to morph into the form you see now. Her maiden name is Nymphadora Tonks," at this a mischievous twinkle in Remus' eye had appeared and he grinned even wider, encouraging Teddy to continue, "But her legal name now is Nymphadora Lupin. She prefers to go by her maiden name Tonks and she is married to Remus John Lupin…."

By now the little girl, or what Teddy assumed to be his mother was clapping gleefully and watching him with eyes that were far too mischievous to belong to that of a child.

"…my reasons for assuming this are because had she been under any sort of appearance altering spell, there would have been a falter in her looks roughly 15 minutes ago. Not to mention not many spells would have been able to last this long without falling through given the lack of recasting. Furthermore as a metamorphagi myself, I realize that morphing creates a solid appearance that can be held for a long as the user wishes which explains the lack of change…" Teddy trailed off and mumbled something under his breath.

Remus raised an eyebrow, "Would you care to repeat that Mr. Lupin? I'm afraid I am getting old and hard of hearing…" But the smile on his face clearly indicated that the werewolf had indeed heard what Teddy had said and instead wanted him to repeat it out loud to the classroom to indirectly tell Tonks what had given her away.

Teddy flushed red, "…I said that no two year old would know how to spell 'I love you' much less spell it out for the professor in the middle of a lesson…"

At this Remus through his head back and laughed, it kind of reminded Teddy of the pictures of his Uncle Sirius that his father had shown him back during the lazy hours of summer.

"Ah… he caught us Dora," Remus chuckled and looked at the grinning infant. Whipping out his wand, Lupin quickly cast an adjusting charm on the robes of the girl as her looks slowly started to shift and she began to grow rapidly in height. Soon, the round chubby face of the baby was replaced with a graceful heart shaped face with twinkling brown eyes and spiky pink hair.

"Wotcher" Tonks grinned to the class and removed her slip on robes to reveal a tight, hot pink t-shirt and camouflage army pants. Her look was finished with her favourite pair of worn out combat boots.

Teddy quickly sat down in his seat and tried to control the heat rushing to his face.

"Now that we've unmasked the identity of this lovely witch, I do believe that proper introductions are in order," Remus said pleasantly as he strode over to his wife and placed a hand at the small of her back, nudging her gently to take a step forwards.

"Wotcher! The name's Tonks and I'm the wife of your smokin' hot professor here," she jabbed a slender finger towards Remus and winked at him, "and I'm the Head of Aurors down at the Ministry of Magic. I'm dead clumsy so I'll apologize now if I trip into any of you lot, I really don't mean to but I can't help it."

Murmurs of excitement floated up from the class. They were meeting a real Auror! And the Head of Aurors no less! Many of the male students whispered excitedly amongst themselves while the females tended to stay stuck on the fact that this was the witch who had destroyed all their fantasies about their favourite professor.

At the compliment, Remus flushed slightly and the looks that the couple were giving each other exuded the intensity of their love. Teddy beat down the urge to gag at the overly romantic scene in front of him. Oliver on the other hand, didn't notice.

"Wow! You never told me your mum was this cool!" He whispered excitedly, "She kinda looks like a punk rocker! That's bloody wicked! You're so lucky to have such awesome parents," He said enviously.

"Yeah… I guess I am," the youngest of the Lupin family grinned to himself. Though his parents might be act like love sick puppies at times, he couldn't deny the fact that he wouldn't have traded his parents for anyone in the world. He was damn proud of the fact that he was the son of two of the greatest war hero's that participated in the second wizarding war and that his mother was one of the few rare metamorphagi in Great Britain, also that his father was possibly the most brilliant and gentle wizard known to mankind despite him being a werewolf.

"Now ladies and gentlemen if I could get your attention please," Remus spoke over the buzzing of the room, "we can continue on with our lesson."

The remainder of the class passed on quickly. Many times Teddy had to stop himself from laughing at the looks of complete and utter hatred that many of the girls were shooting at his mother who seemed unbothered by the glares she was getting. Instead, Nymphadora spent the time reclining on a wooden chair with her feet propped up on the desk and tilting back on the hind legs. She was teetering so precariously that Teddy feared she would fall backwards and give herself a concussion (she had done that once before at their home, luckily Remus had been there to rush her to St. Mungo's immediately). Apparently this fear was lodged into his father's mind as well for he soon cast a spell on the chair that made all of its legs stick to the floor. Nymphadora shot Remus a pointed look but it withered into sheepishness under his disapproving stare.

Finally, the deep chiming of the bell signalled that class was over and the students hastily packed up their books and exited the classroom in a steady stream. Teddy however lingered behind after assuring Oliver that he would see him in Transfiguration.

Once the classroom was empty other than him and his parents, Teddy launched himself into the open arms of his mother and laughed merrily.

"Hey there sweetheart," Tonks grinned at the aqua haired boy.

"You can't fool me mum, I can recognize you anywhere!" Teddy smiled proudly and morphed his hair into a matching vivid pink color.

"Oh really now? If I do remember correctly you were just as confused as everyone else at the beginning of class," Remus chuckled quietly, his eyes sparkling with unmasked amusement. This was the Remus that Teddy knew, a reserved and quiet man who only let down his guard around his family. Though his father did laugh and appear almost carefree albeit responsible in the classroom, his eyes were always guarded and he was always cautious of the range of emotions he would show.

"But I eventually figured it out!" Teddy huffed and attempted to pout, but under the amused look on his father's face, he erupted into another full out grin (which made him look like a male version of Nymphadora in Remus' opinion).

"Yeah you did honey, and your father and I are extremely proud of you for figuring it out!" Tonks ruffled his hair affectionately.

Giving an annoyed grunt Teddy made a half-hearted effort to brush her hand away. Looking from his father, back to his mother, he finally asked the question that had been plaguing his mind ever since he had realized that it was indeed his mother sitting in the classroom and not some random two year old.

"So why are you here anyways mum? Don't you have work?" Teddy inquired curiously.

"Actually," Remus replied smoothly, "That's what we're here to talk to you about. We have a surprise for you Teddy."

Remus took the look of confusion as a sign to continue, "your mother has been granted a week off work by Minister Shacklebolt – I'm sure you remember him Teddy, considering how often he visits us."

"A week off work? Why? Is something wrong with mum?" Confusion began to give way to panic and worry as Teddy's eyes darted quickly to his mother.

"No! Of course not Teddy! I'm perfectly fine!" Tonks reassured him.

"The reason for your mother's vacation off of work is because it has been brought to Shacklebolt's attention that your mother absolutely loathes the fact that she cannot spend her own son's birthday with him," Remus continued with a knowing smile on his face.

"S'not my fault! I've already missed two birthdays and I'll be damned if I miss another one! At least you get to spend it with him Remus! While I'm stuck at the ministry doing blasted paperwork from dawn until dusk and then I can't even enter Hogwarts after work because of the curfew!" Tonks huffed angrily and crossed her arms.

Remus sent an apologetic look over to his wife and her angry features softened slightly, but she still held a look of annoyance.

"So basically what your mother and I have come to ask you is to draw up a list of close friends – no more than 15 mind you, otherwise Minerva will have my head – that you would like to have at your birthday party."

Teddy's eyes grew wide, "a birthday party? Really? Professor McGonagall will let us use the common room?"

Tonks burst out laughing, "Good god no! Professor McGonagall would sooner admit that I was a good student in my days rather than let us use the Gryffindor common room for a party, especially if the last of the Marauders and a clumsy Auror are planning it."

"The party will be held at home Teddy, we've been given permission to remove up to 15 of your friends from Hogwarts this coming Saturday for your birthday," Remus said gently.

Teddy let out a loud whoop, "Wow! This is so awesome! I can't wait to tell Oliver! Thanks mum, thanks dad! You guys are the best!" he hugged both of them quickly and whizzed out of the classroom in a blur.

At the end of the day when Teddy lay on his four poster bed staring up at the ceiling of the Gryffindor dorm room, he decided that surprises weren't so bad, especially if they were coming from his parents.

And he was right. The next time he had gotten a surprise was on the day of his birthday when a cheerful Nymphadora and an equally happy Remus presented him with another surprise in front of all his friends: a Firebolt 3000.

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A/N: Hmm… this didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted it to. It was quite hard for me to tell the story in the way I saw it in my head, not to mention it turned out WAAAYY longer than I had intended it to be. Hopefully it didn't drag on too long and bore you out of your wits. Thanks for reading and reviews are always welcome!


	2. Anger

A/N: Here's another one-shot! Hopefully it's not too crappy since I'm not used to writing short stories...

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, it belongs to JKR

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Remus Lupin was not an angry man by nature. Rather, he was a quiet and modest fellow who preferred to blend in with the background lest attention be drawn towards his furry little problem. Remus could count on one hand the number of times that he had harboured any sort of negative feelings towards another being.

The first time had been when Greyback bit him as a child. He could not understand why he, out of all the children in the world, had to have the bad luck of being bitten by one of the most sadistic, notorious werewolves out there. He thought it unfair and cruel that the world deal him such a horrible hand but eventually the anger subsided and he was left with a belief that he would never attain true happiness in his life because of his lycanthropy.

The second time was when Sirius had pranked Snape into approaching the Shrieking Shack during one full moon. Thankfully James had enough sense to stop Severus before any true harm had happened. Remus had been furious with Sirius which ended up in him punching the lights out of the other boy as soon as he was well enough to move again. It was after that incident that the youngest Black family member had learned that his recklessness and stupidity could've actually cost Remus his ability to attend Hogwarts and that said werewolf could actually pack quite the punch.

The third time was when James and Lily had gotten married. He knew it was horrible to be jealous of his friend and that only made him angry at himself. Remus had resigned to his fate long ago yet as he watched one of his best friends walk down the aisle with a new bride in tow, his jealousy bubbled over and he had to remove himself from the ceremony for a few minutes to regain control over his emotions. After all was said and done however, he was genuinely happy for his two friends and truly did wish them happiness from the bottom of his heart.

The fourth time was when Sirius had meddled too much into his relationship with Tonks for his own good. His constant jabs at him and unsubtle hints at Order meetings piled up until one day he simply crossed the line that should not have been crossed. It was almost cruel, Remus thought, that Sirius keep trying to prod him along in his relationship with Nymphadora even though he knew fully well why Remus did not want to go too far. His lycanthropy was a good enough reason for anyone to run away from him screaming but that merely brought Nymphadora closer to him. The age gap between them was large enough that he could've been her father, but that only made her laugh and tell him that she thought older men were more attractive. Last but not least, he had his poverty to take into consideration. He was so poor that he often found himself skipping out on meals simply because he could not afford it. Not to mention the house in which his parents had left for him in their will was in desperate need of repairs and was holding together through magic alone. But Nymphadora merely scoffed at this and said that her job at the ministry paid well enough that they could both get by without having many difficulties. In the end though, his iron will had cracked and he succumbed to the temptation of happiness and married her because he decided that after all that he had gone through, he deserved a slice of light in his life and he'd be damned if anyone would dare try and take his saving grace away from him.

Thus brought him back to the present; the fifth and final time he had truly felt anger. He could not fathom how someone could be so utterly stupid as to sign their own death warrant. Yet as he watched Dolohov fire another unforgiveable at his wife he felt what little self control in himself snap. Raging with fury, Remus quickly dealt with his current opponent with a quick stun to the chest and turned to fire a flurry of spells at the last remaining death eater who was attacking his 4 month pregnant wife. Although Remus knew that his Dora was quite capable of protecting herself from danger, he had created a rather protective streak within himself after Harry had knocked some sense into him around 2 months ago. Now that they were in battle – fighting in the area close to their small cottage no less – Remus let all his anger out and duelled with a ferocity rivalled by none. Snarling with fury, he cast another deadly spell and quickly shouted '_Protego!'_ to block the rapid fire from his opponent. Though the hail of spells was getting heavier and heavier, Remus refused to move from his position in front of his wife who was now trying to heal the long gash along her right leg that she had attained when she dove to the side to avoid a killing spell and ended up cutting open her leg against a sharp rock. The duel continued for several more minutes before both duelists jabbed their wands at each other and shouted '_Stupefy!'_ at the same time. Red streaks burst forth from their wands and collided into each other with a loud crack. For a while it seemed like the spells were merely going to cancel each other out but because of the intensity of his anger, Remus' stunning spell overpowered the other and a powerful blast knocked Dolohov off his feet.

Panting for breath, Remus turned to his wife with worry written all over his face. The adrenaline was still pumping through his veins and all of his senses were on overdrive and he couldn't help but notice the large amounts of blood that pooled beneath Tonks' bright green robes.

"Dora? Love? Are you alright? Is the wound deep? Did you fall on you side? Is the baby hurt? Oh god the baby, the baby…" Remus gasped and started doing a quick inventory on his wife, gently roving his hands over her body to check for any other injuries.

"I'm fine Remus, and the baby is fine too. I managed to cushion the fall with my hands enough that it didn't hurt the baby. A bump or two but nothing too serious…" Tonks reassured him gently and winced as she tried to get up.

Immediately throwing her arm around his neck and placing his arm around her waist, he hoisted her up and apparated straight to their home.

Setting her gently on the old worn out blue couch, Remus started to examine the leg wound that had thankfully stopped bleeding due to the quick first aid spells that Tonks had cast while Remus was duelling Dolohov.

Pointing his wand at the top of the long gash, Remus furrowed his brow in concentration as he slowly knit the skin back together. After the many full moons that he was forced to endure alone, Lupin had gotten quite good at healing spells. By the time he had finished, Tonks was leaning her head back and breathing deeply with what he knew was relief that both of them had gotten out of the battle safely.

Noticing that he had finished mending her leg, Tonks met his eyes with weary ones of her own, "we should probably notify the other Order members about the attack… and I should probably tell Kingsley that there are two unconscious death eaters lying in the field close to our house," she chuckled dryly and grabbed her wand with sluggish movements.

Raising both their wands, they muttered "_Expecto Patronum_" and watched as two large silvery wolves bounded out from the tip.

Their patronuses were nearly identical except that if one looked closely, they would be able to tell that Remus' was slightly bigger and held a more regal quality to it while Tonks' patronus was essentially Remus in his werewolf form. Quickly muttering their respective messages, they sighed and sank into each other's arms as their patronuses bounded away.

"You scared me you know," Tonks mumbled against his chest after a while, "I've never seen you so angry before."

"He had it coming," Remus replied as he ran his fingers idly through her short pink locks, "he was a fool to expect to get out of the battle unharmed if he dared to attack _my_ wife and child."

Tonks laughed, "If this is what you're like when I'm only 4 months pregnant, I'd hate to think what you'd be like when I'm around the 8 month mark."

Remus chuckled quietly and nuzzled her temple, "Well, first of all I cannot think of anyone stupid enough to want to mess with a hormonal pregnant Auror in the first place," he laughed as he dodged a pillow to the head, "and trust me when I say this, I'd take them down before they could even get within a 10 meter radius of you."

"I can take care of myself Remus," Tonks huffed good naturally as she pulled him closer with a sigh while he began running his hands underneath her robes.

"I know you can sweetheart, but you must understand that Gryffindors usually tend to harbour endless amounts of chivalry and that impulse alone refuses to let you get into any sort of danger," he mumbled quietly, his thumb rubbing small circles on her now exposed hip.

Nymphadora laughed heartily, "just what I need, my knight in shining armor."

Remus closed his eyes and breathed in her scent, "Only for you Dora. Only for you."

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A/N: How was it? Good? Bad? Spelling mistakes? Grammatical mistakes? Constructive criticism is always welcome! Read and Review people!


	3. Dead

A/N: I've been wanting to write an angst RLNT one-shot for a long time hahaha… sorry no fluff today! But let's see how well I fare at writing Remus angst… oh, it's AU by the way in case you haven't noticed.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP, JKR does.

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He didn't know what to do.

That in itself was quite the feat. In all of his life, he had never been rendered this vulnerable nor had he ever felt such a deep agony; not even the reality of the fact that he was the last of the marauders could ever compare to this earth shattering pain that made him want to curl up and _die_.

He fixed his eyes on her small cold hands enveloped by his own larger, coarse ones. He could not bring himself to look at her face because he knew that if he did, his soul would break and the fact that this _was_ actually happening and not a dream would come crashing down on him like a transformation on a full moon.

Shutting his eyes tightly, he made a pathetic attempt to even out his erratic breathing and forced himself to think of the one positive thing still remaining. She was still alive. Well, at least for now she was, the healers had said that they didn't know if she would make the night. Usually Remus embraced the blanket of darkness that fell upon earth every day but just this once, he wished that the sun would stay floating above the horizon forever. He didn't want night to come, because when the curtains closed, it meant that the show was over. The show that was called Nymphadora Andromeda Tonks would end and that one little spark of light in his life would flicker and die along with the applause. Perhaps, if someone up there actually liked him, they would allow him an encore performance, he thought drily.

It hurt so much. If he had known the consequences of pushing her away he would've held her tight and never let her go. He would take a full moon for every single remaining night in his life if he could only turn back the hands of time.

It hurt to breathe. It hurt to live. It hurt knowing that she was going to die because of _him_. It hurt knowing that even before her body had been physically harmed, he was the one who had killed her soul. It was agony in its purest form. And now he would never see her hair flush bright red or her Cheshire grin ever again.

Choking back a strangled sob, Remus finally opened his eyes and looked at – dare he say it? – his beloved. She lie there painfully still with no signs of life save the slow steady thudding of her pulse and the shallow, nearly non existent breaths she took.

Why? _Why_ had she taken that spell for him? He was supposed to be the one dying, not _her_. Not Nymphadora Tonks, the brightest, most forgiving, caring, beautiful, and clumsiest witch in the world. Reaching a shaking hand up, he flinched back just as his fingers were about to graze the soft (or at least he imagined it was so, for he had only run his hands through it in his dreams), brown hair that lay fanned out on her hospital pillow. Hesitating slightly, he let his fingers tangle themselves in her hair as he caressed her like one would when comforting a child, although Remus didn't know who was comforting who at this point.

As the last ray of sunlight dipped below the horizon, Remus had to swallow the urge to just lose himself in his despair. She could still make it, he reminded himself. There was that possibility. There was a ninety percent chance she would die but damn it that remaining ten percent still counted for something. If Remus knew anything, it was that Nymphadora never did the expected. He believe that so much that there was a part of him that expected her to jump up at any moment and laugh at how ridiculous he looked. And Remus had to admit that he would much rather his dignity take a beating than have her taken from him.

All the other Order members as well as some people from the ministry had already said their goodbyes to her. Although she was not awake to hear them, Remus knew that a part of her unconsciously logged it into her brain for later remembrance. The worse farewell had been her parents. He had never seen Andromeda so completely and utterly devastated. She looked essentially like what he felt. Ted Tonks almost appeared to be in shock at first, like seeing his daughter lie on the bed actually made the casualty letter they received real. After Andromeda had cried herself empty did things finally sink in and silent tears of anguish began rolling down his face. All the while, he simply sat there clutching Dora's hand like a lifeline, hoping and praying to anyone that was willing to listen to him to let Nymphadora have a second chance at life because she was too _young_ and _alive_ to die like this. When her parents had met his gaze, his strong façade crumbled and he continuously mumbled 'I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry…' over and over again as guilt and sorrow like no other crashed into him wave after wave while tears made their way silently down his gaunt cheeks like a river being freed from a dam.

They didn't blame him for their daughter's state, he knew that much. But it was because that they didn't blame him that he blamed himself all the more. Maybe had he been stronger, quicker to react that he could've prevented all this. Maybe if he had actually allowed himself to love her back she wouldn't be lying here on a hospital bed with every single color drained from her while her life slowly whittled away with the night.

Remus rose from his chair slowly and ignored the cracking of his joints, moving her delicately to the side, he shuffled onto the bed and pulled her into his arms. Taking a deep breath, he inhaled her scent. It was just as he remembered; lilac and a hint of rose. Letting all the memories of them together for the past two years wash over him, Remus cried like he never cried before. His broken sobs echoed loudly in the empty hospital ward and had someone heard him, they would've thought his soul had been forcefully ripped from him, and quite frankly, they wouldn't have been too far from the truth.

When the clock struck twelve and he still felt her slow, shallow breaths, he felt his chest constrict and he closed his eyes and prayed harder than ever. _Almost there Dora. Please, just a little bit longer._ She would make it through the night. She would. If she didn't, he would die. Burying his face in her neck, Remus lay there feeling the faint pulse from her neck convincing him that maybe she had a chance.

The couple lay like that for what seemed like an eternity but too short to be forever. When the clock finally struck 5 and the sky was beginning to brighten with the rising of the sun, Remus felt hope like never before. She was going to make it. The smile that had bloomed across Remus' weary face suddenly froze as he gently grabbed her wrist only to feel nothing.

No pulse.

No life.

Dead.

Nymphadora Tonks was dead.

The smile quickly turned to shock.

This wasn't happening. This couldn't happen. Anyone but _her_.

"No… no no no no no…" Remus gasped as tears once again embedded a path on his worn out features. Reaching hastily, he put two fingers against her neck and felt for a pulse to make sure.

There was none.

"Oh God no… Dora wake up, wake up Dora, you need to wake up…" Remus shook her shoulders gently, his sobs becoming more and more erratic, "No… you can't leave me Dora, you can't. Wake up, open your eyes… dear god please just this once open your eyes."

He received no response and harsh reality sunk in slowly.

She was never going to open her eyes ever again. Never again would Remus be blinded with the absurd bright pink hair that he absolutely adored on her. Never again would Remus be subjected to her teasing (which he always enjoyed the attention). Never again would he hear her say the three words that made his heart leap out of his chest.

Never again.

He broke.

His world shattered and he shattered right along with it. He screamed until his voice was hoarse and he begged until his sobs rendered him inarticulate.

The sun was now peeking over the horizon and Remus lay there quivering, hugging her lifeless body against his own in an attempt to convince himself that it wasn't real. That she wasn't really gone and that she would wake up anytime now to go to work.

But deep down he knew. He knew she was never going to wake up again; and that killed him.

When he let his last choked sob out, he felt as if the world was dead to him. He didn't know what to do. Should he tell someone and alert them that the woman known as Nymphadora Tonks was no longer alive? But to do that would mean that they would take her away from him.

His eyes opened blearily and he looked around with empty amber orbs. He did not notice at first, but eventually his eyes settled on the one object lying on the table next to the bedside.

Her wand.

He stared at it like a foreign object before reaching slowly for it. Picking it up, he turned it slowly in his hands and briefly marvelled at the lightness of it. The core must have been werewolf fur for it to have been this light, his mind mused absently. He twirled it again and when it was pointing at his own throat, he held it still.

Remus closed his eyes and opened them once more only to see a pale, ghost like figure of his beloved standing at the bedside. She seemed to know what he planned to do for her expression was terrified and she shouted soundless words at him all the while looking absolutely scared out of her wits.

Remus let one last smile grace his face.

_I Love You Dora_, he thought, and he knew she heard him because she lunged for the wand in his hand.

But she never made it in time.

"_Avada Kedavra."_

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A/N: How was it? I'm terrible at writing angst… feedback anyone? Read and review!


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